BCLO vs CLOA

BCLODiShares BBB-B CLO Active ETF

CLOAAiShares AAA CLO Active ETF

In short

BCLO The CLO ETF aisle is stacked with AAA-only funds. BCLO goes the other way: an active book of BBB+ to B- CLO tranches, reaching for current income further down the ratings ladder, with cash paid out monthly.

CLOA BlackRock's play in AAA CLOs: active credit picking measured against J.P. Morgan's CLOIE AAA index, 0.20% a year, spread over roughly 400 positions. A billion-dollar-plus book built since its 2023 launch.

Stated mandate

BCLO The Fund seeks capital preservation and current income by investing principally in collateralized loan obligations rated from BBB+ to B-.

CLOA The fund seeks exposure to U.S. dollar-denominated AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations, using active credit selection to pursue income and capital preservation with potentially low volatility.

Why people hold it

• BCLO Most CLO ETFs stop at AAA. BCLO's mandate is the BBB+ to B- band, a genuinely different slice of the same corporate loan pools.
• Actively managed and concentrated in roughly 50 positions, so a manager is picking deals and tranches rather than buying a rating bucket wholesale.
• Stated goals are capital preservation and current income, and the income arrives monthly.
• Sits inside the iShares CLO lineup alongside the AAA fund CLOA, so the mezzanine mandate extends an existing platform rather than starting from scratch.

• CLOA Charges 0.20% a year, below the 0.25% typical for CLO funds and level with what most of the category's biggest names (JAAA, FAAA, ACLO) charge.
• Roughly 400 separate CLO positions, one of the deepest books in its peer group, so no single deal carries the fund.
• Actively run: the team selects deals and CLO managers instead of buying whatever a benchmark holds. The CLOIE AAA index is the yardstick, not the rulebook.
• Income arrives monthly, and it sits among the easier funds in its cohort to get in and out of.

Worth knowing

• BCLO At 0.45% the fee runs well above the AAA CLO crowd, where CLOA, JAAA and PAAA sit near 0.20%. Credit work below AAA costs more to run.
• The mandate reaches down to B-, below investment grade, so this is a credit position with real default sensitivity, not an AAA cash-parking tool.
• Launched in 2025 and thinly traded, so the track record is short and bid-ask spreads can be wider than the established AAA CLO funds.

• CLOA Active means manager-dependent. There is no index to fall back on, so outcomes hinge on which deals the desk picks.
• The mandate pursues income and capital preservation with potentially low volatility. That is the aim, not a floor; CLO prices still move.
• Trading since January 2023, so its record is short next to long-running bond funds and covers a narrow slice of credit history.

Full BCLO profile⁠

Full CLOA profile⁠